Consulting: strategy and use cases
Strategy and use cases: where satellite data pays off for you
Strategy and use cases is the first step of our consulting. We work out where Earth observation, satellite navigation, satellite communication and AI help with a problem your organisation already has, rank the use cases by value and feasibility, and give you a prioritised use-case list, a value assessment, a business case outline and a roadmap.
- Prioritised list of use cases
- Value assessment
- Business case outline
- Roadmap
01When you need it
When you need this
You suspect that satellite data could help your organisation, but nobody can yet say where, for whom and at what cost.
Typical starting situations:
- Management has asked whether satellite data matters for the business, and the question has no owner yet.
- A provider has shown an impressive demonstration, and you cannot tell whether it solves a problem you actually have.
- Several departments have ideas for pilots, and you have to decide which ones deserve a budget.
- Your IT strategy has to make room for geospatial data, and the CIO needs to know what to integrate, govern and buy.
- A city or region has set climate or planning goals and wants to know where satellite data can contribute before it writes a tender.
02How we work
What we do
From the first question to a roadmap: we name the problem and its owner, rank the use cases, assess their value, check your readiness, outline the business case and set out the roadmap.
Name the problem and its owner
In interviews and a workshop with your management and the departments concerned, we collect the pressure points: cost, compliance, resilience, growth or, for public bodies, a policy goal. Each problem we keep gets an owner who will act on the result.
Collect and rank use cases
We gather candidate use cases from your teams and from what providers already offer for your sector. We shortlist them by value, feasibility, data availability and executive sponsorship, and recommend a small number to pursue first. Our overview of satellite data use cases shows what is already possible and where the limits are.
Assess the value
For each shortlisted use case we describe what the space-enabled capability does and which business outcome it changes. Our consulting overview explains how we judge the value of a use case.
Check readiness and build the business case
We check whether your data, systems, skills, governance and procurement path are ready for the use case. Then we outline the business case: expected benefits, costs for data, integration and operation, and the main risks. Running costs after the pilot belong in it from the start, because an initiative without a budget beyond the pilot rarely reaches operation.
Set out the roadmap
The roadmap puts the use cases in order and names the decisions, pilots and procurement steps for each, with owners and dependencies.
03Deliverables
What you receive
Deliverables
What strategy and use cases delivers
- A prioritised list of use cases: each with the problem it addresses, its owner and the reason for its rank.
- A value assessment: the capability each use case relies on and the outcomes it can change, in cost, speed, risk, compliance or revenue.
- A business case outline: benefits, costs for data, integration and operation, risks and open assumptions.
- A roadmap: the order of use cases, pilots and procurement steps, with owners and decision points.
04Your part
What we need from you
- One owner on your side who can take decisions on priorities and budget.
- Access to the people who know the processes concerned, for example operations, IT, finance, sustainability or planning.
- An overview of the data and systems you already use, including any GIS.
- Your goals and constraints: budget frame, timing, and reporting or compliance obligations that apply to you.
Who signs off later depends on whether you buy a product, partner with providers or build your own capability. Our consulting overview names the decision owner for each of the three.
05CIO advisory
CIO advisory for the adoption of space data
Sooner or later, space data reaches the CIO: it has to be integrated, governed and paid for.
We advise CIOs and IT decision-makers on how solutions based on Earth observation, satellite navigation, satellite communication and AI fit into their digital strategy, and how the investments line up with business goals. The questions we work on with IT are practical:
- Which data and services do we buy, and where would our own capability be an advantage?
- How do satellite-derived data and AI outputs connect to our existing systems and enterprise architecture?
- What governance do data, models and providers need, at the level that applies to other critical systems?
In our view, IT enables the initiative while the business owns it. When the roadmap reaches the choice of a provider, our requirements and procurement service takes over.
06Limits
When satellite data is not the answer
A strategy engagement can also end with a clear "not now". That saves the cost of a pilot that would not have reached operation.
Limit 01
Your own data answers it better
Some questions are answered better by data you already hold, from your ERP, your sensors or your field reports. In that case we recommend using it and say so in the assessment.Limit 02
The value does not cover the cost
If processing, integration and operation cost more than the decision is worth, the business case shows it, and we advise against a pilot.Limit 03
The technology came first
A use case that exists only because a new data source is available rarely survives the business case. We test every candidate against a problem with an owner.
07Industries
Industries we work in
The industry pages below present our four anonymised client projects in sales, planning, operations and reporting, each together with the use cases of its sector.
08Next steps
Next steps
- Our consultingFour practice areas from a business problem to a solution in operation, and the choice between buying, partnering and building.
- Requirements and procurementFrom a chosen use case to requirements, tender and provider.
Frequently asked questions
Q1How do we find out whether satellite data is worth it for us?
Start with a problem that costs money, creates risk or blocks a goal, and with the person who owns it. Then check whether a space-enabled capability, such as observing sites over time or locating vehicles and goods, changes an outcome that matters: cost, speed, risk, compliance or revenue. If no outcome changes, a pilot is not worth it. Our value assessment answers that question for each candidate use case.
Q2How many use cases should we start with?
We recommend starting with three: one that lowers cost, one that lowers risk and one that supports growth. A long list of pilots spreads budget and attention thin, and it easily turns into a portfolio of pilots that never scale. The other candidates stay on the roadmap for later.
Q3Who should own a space-data initiative inside the company?
A single executive who is responsible for the business result, not a lab or an innovation team alone. IT, procurement and the departments that use the data take part, but the decision on budget and priorities stays with that owner.
Q4What does it cost, and how long does it take?
That depends on the scope, for example the number of use cases, departments and sites involved. We name the cost and the time frame in the free initial call, once we know your task.
Contact
Have a problem and several ideas? We help you rank the options.
Book a call, or send us a message if you prefer to write.
Prefer to talk?
Tell one of our experts about your project. Together we work out where you stand, whether satellite data and AI can help and what a sensible next step would be.
Both calls are free of charge and take place online. You choose a date in our booking calendar.
Prefer to write? Send us a message.
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